Job Description

Health and Safety / Regulatory Lawyer

Birmingham/ Manchester / Leeds

Brief

We are currently looking to recruit a health and safety / regulatory lawyer (with criminal regulatory defence experience) to join our Health & Safety and Regulatory Risk Advisory team in one of our offices in Birmingham, Manchester or Leeds.



We are looking for a candidate with 2 to 6 years' post qualification experience, for which this would represent an excellent opportunity for career advancement whilst working in a friendly and collaborative team.



The role will involve primarily contentious and non-contentious advice and support to clients in the context of health and safety and corporate / gross negligence manslaughter (including fire safety, building safety and Coroner's inquests) and other aspects of regulatory law such as environmental law (contentious); food safety / hygiene; product safety (incl. construction products); and aspects of trading law (such as placing goods on the market post-Brexit).



The successful candidate will ideally have gained relevant experience in a City firm or large regional practice and should have good expertise in the type of criminal regulatory defence work described above, i.e. health and safety and/or contentious environmental and/or food safety and/or trading law. Involvement in and experience of public inquiries will also be welcome.



Candidates must have a strong academic background and excellent communication and organisational skills. Equally important is commercial awareness and enthusiasm for business development. They will need to be a team player with a strong client-focussed approach and must be willing to travel nationally for clients and court hearings.



We are looking for the right candidate so the role can be based out of any of our national offices. The role will involve travel to other offices and clients' offices, as required. Applicants should indicate their preferred office location(s) when applying.

National Team

This is an outstanding opportunity to join a national team that acts on high profile instructions from major national and international clients. The team routinely handle a wide variety of matters including fatal incidents in the workplace, active investigations and prosecutions brought by the HSE, Environment Agency and Local Authorities, fire safety cases, building safety advice, and food safety/hygiene cases. The Team also have experience of advising core participants in public inquiries.



The successful candidate will work closely with all three partners in England - Kevin Bridges and Zoe Betts (based in Manchester) and Sean Elson (based in Birmingham). Across the UK, there are a total of five partners and more than ten non-partner lawyers in the national team, as well as a full-time non-lawyer H&S Consultant.



Kevin Bridges leads the UK H&S and Regulatory Risk Advisory Team and has long been acknowledged as a leader in this area of law. Kevin's experience spans health and safety, fire safety, public inquiries contentious environmental, and related criminal litigation. He handles a wide spectrum of matters including public inquiries, police investigations, prosecutions by the HSE and Environment Agency and advice on regulatory compliance. He is routinely involved in advising clients following fatal incidents, including corporate and individual manslaughter cases. Kevin is one of only a few lawyers who is dual-qualified as both a health and safety lawyer and a chartered safety and health practitioner.


"He is a very experienced solicitor who is highly professional and knowledgeable." "Kevin is able to provide support and assurances which give key clients the confidence they need during difficult, challenging scenarios. He is at the top of his game."

Sean Elson focuses his practice on health and safety, building safety and modern slavery matters. He provides high-quality advice to clients on public inquiries and prosecutions relating to serious on-site incidents and manslaughter cases. He also has vast experience of providing counsel on investigations by fire authorities, HSE and police.



"He is extremely knowledgeable, and his advice has been invaluable." "Sean Elson is effective and very industrious."

Zoe Betts was promoted to partner in May 2024 and is especially experienced in working for clients in the Waste and Recycling, Construction and Manufacturing sectors who require preventative health and safety compliance advice or post-incident crisis management support. She also leads the team's work in the food safety and hygiene, product safety and trading law spaces.



"Her standard of work is outstanding and she is very knowledgeable." "Approachable, confident, clear, bold and very trustworthy" and "the most responsive, dedicated lawyer I've ever met".

Chambers and Partners

Key clients

Kier Group plc Morgan Sindall Group plc Wates Viridor Bouygues Group EDF Energy Balfour Beatty Renew Group

What our clients say

'What stands out with Pinsent Masons is their people and their attitude towards dealing with issues. Their technical knowledge and understanding of current issues are a given. Their ability to simplify complex issues and put it in plain English for one's understanding is exemplary and a key strength for this practice. I have had experience of other practices and the service received from PM is well above and always exceeds my expectations.'

'I have been extremely impressed with the service that we have received from Pinsent Masons. The team have been highly professional, responsive and efficient, and the calibre of their work has been excellent. In my dealings with them, I have had the sense that they have really listened, and very much understood the dilemma with which we were faced, and their intelligence, strategic thinking and attention to detail have been amazing.'

'The Health and Safety Practice at Pinsent Masons has been my one-stop-shop for all advice, support and representation during some challenging times. Their ability to guide and support though complex legal issues, whilst remaining balanced and fair, is impressive. I've also been impressed with the support provided for non-litigation matters; training, guidance, best practice sharing and work they do with industry to promote better H&S compliance and performance. But above all, it's the people that make the difference. Partners, Associates and appointed Barristers are all of the highest quality.'

Legal500

Awards

Pinsent Masons won the 'Europe's Most Innovative Law Firm' at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyer Awards Europe 2023 and the 'Best Talent and Inclusion' award at The Lawyer Awards 2022. The firm is also named Diversity & Inclusion Firm of the Year 2023 by the Legal 500 Northern Powerhouse Awards. The firm has placed in the Top 10 Top Employers for Working Families for its 7th consecutive year. Go to www.pinsentmasons.com/accolades to view all of our global awards and nominations.

What will we offer you?

We are a market leading, dynamic and growing team who work together to produce outstanding results for our clients. We invest in our team and have a first-class training and career development programme, regular career discussions, and annual appraisals. The quality and depth of our training reflects our position as a market leader. Our training will assist you to develop as a health and safety / regulatory specialist with valuable sector knowledge and the ability to deliver high quality services. Early responsibility and opportunities to develop client relationships. A competitive remuneration package.

About the firm

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Pinsent Masons is a global 100 law firm, with over 3,800 employees operating out of 28 locations across 4 continents. The firm is focused and ambitious and is currently actively growing the UK business as well as our European, Middle East (new office in Riyad) and Asia Pac businesses. The US is also a target market. The firm has ambitious growth targets in the next 3 years as well as being committed to supporting its people and the communities in which the firm has a presence. The firm operates a secondment programme to other international offices (6 months) and these opportunities are open to everyone in the firm.

Please note we only accept applications made via our recruitment portal.

Should you require further details, please contact our in-house Lateral Recruitment Advisor Steffy Lam who can discuss the role and requirements.

Contact details:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steffy-lam-715241238/

steffy.lam@pinsentmasons.com

At Pinsent Masons we value diversity and inclusion. We are committed to creating a better workplace where all our talent can succeed and feel like they belong. We want to attract, retain and develop people at all levels and encourage applications from all suitably qualified candidates whatever your ethnicity, religion, age, physical or mental disability/ long term condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or any other characteristics protected by local law in the jurisdictions in which we operate.



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